Sixto ‘Sugar Man’ Rodriguez switches to DPA

American singer-songwriter Sixto Rodriguez, the subject of the Oscar Award-winning documentary Searching For Sugar Man, has switched to a DPA d:facto vocal microphone. Producer and FOH engineer Russ Miller, who has been working with Rodriguez since he started his current tour in November 2012, says the DPA d:facto vocal microphone has proved ‘absolutely invaluable’. “It is an incredible microphone that is perfect for Rodriguez’s voice,” Miller said. “It has worked brilliantly at every venue we have visited, including Glastonbury, and frankly I couldn’t have got through this tour without it.” “As a singer-songwriter in the tradition of artists like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, it is really important that audiences can hear every word of every lyric Rodriguez sings,” Miller explained. “However, when he’s accompanied by a powerful, up tempo band, it can be difficult to keep his vocal loud and clear. This isn’t a unique problem, but it was one I wanted to solve before we tackled some of the bigger venues on his tour, so I started casting around for a better microphone for him.” After a conversation with live sound engineer Rik Dowding, who recently invested in DPA d:facto vocal microphones for The xx, Miller approached DPA’s UK distributor Sound Network, through Tour Supply Ltd, and asked if he could demo one. Once Rodriguez began using the d:facto mic Miller said he certainly noticed a difference. “It was amazing, the microphone is incredibly detailed in the upper mids, and as a result I was able to attenuate cymbal spill with just a low pass filter because his voice cut through really well, without having to add any air. I was also impressed with how well the microphone took EQ-ing. It was obvious to me that this was the right mic for Rodriguez so we immediately specified it for the rest of his live shows.”